CODEBOOK / DATA DICTIONARY
==========================
Dataset: COVID-19 Annual Statistics in Ibero-American Countries (2019-2024):
         Cases, Deaths, Recoveries, Mortality Rate and Vaccinations

Author:  de la Serna, Juan Moises (International University of La Rioja)
         ORCID: 0000-0002-8401-8018
DOI:     https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/6WISDO
License: CC0 1.0 (Public Domain Dedication)
Version: DRAFT
Date:    2026-07-03

==========================
1. DATASET OVERVIEW
==========================

This dataset presents annual COVID-19 epidemiological statistics for 21
Ibero-American countries covering the period 2019-2024. The dataset contains
126 observations (21 countries x 6 years) and 12 variables. Data were compiled
and harmonized from three major international sources: the World Health
Organization (WHO), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and Our World
in Data.

Ibero-American countries included (N=21):
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua,
Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Uruguay, Venezuela.

==========================
2. FILE INFORMATION
==========================

File name:    covid19_iberoamerica_2019_2024.tab
Format:       Tab-delimited (Tabular Data)
Size:         9.7 KB
Observations: 126 (21 countries x 6 years: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
Variables:    12

==========================
3. VARIABLE DESCRIPTIONS
==========================

Variable 1: Country
-------------------
  Label:       Country name
  Type:        String (categorical)
  Description: Full name of the Ibero-American country in English.
  Example:     Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Mexico, Portugal
  Missing:     None expected

Variable 2: ISO_Code
--------------------
  Label:       ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code
  Type:        String (categorical)
  Description: Three-letter country code as per ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 standard.
  Example:     ARG, BRA, ESP, MEX, PRT
  Missing:     None expected

Variable 3: Year
----------------
  Label:       Calendar year
  Type:        Numeric (integer)
  Range:       2019-2024
  Description: The calendar year to which the statistics correspond. Year 2019
               is included as a pre-pandemic baseline reference year.
  Missing:     None expected

Variable 4: Confirmed_Cases
----------------------------
  Label:       Confirmed COVID-19 cases (annual total)
  Type:        Numeric (integer)
  Unit:        Number of individuals
  Description: Total laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases reported in the country
               during the calendar year. Annual counts (not cumulative since
               pandemic onset). Value is 0 for 2019.
  Source:      WHO, PAHO, Our World in Data
  Missing:     0 for 2019; may be NA for countries with incomplete reporting.

Variable 5: Deaths
------------------
  Label:       Confirmed COVID-19 deaths (annual total)
  Type:        Numeric (integer)
  Unit:        Number of individuals
  Description: Total deaths attributed to COVID-19 in the country during the
               calendar year. Annual counts.
  Source:      WHO, PAHO, Our World in Data
  Missing:     0 for 2019.

Variable 6: Recoveries
----------------------
  Label:       Recovered COVID-19 cases (annual total)
  Type:        Numeric (integer)
  Unit:        Number of individuals
  Description: Total individuals who recovered from COVID-19 during the calendar
               year. Many countries discontinued reporting recoveries after 2021.
  Source:      WHO, PAHO, Our World in Data
  Missing:     May be NA for 2022-2024 due to changes in national reporting.

Variable 7: Vaccine_Doses
--------------------------
  Label:       COVID-19 vaccine doses administered (annual total)
  Type:        Numeric (integer)
  Unit:        Number of doses
  Description: Total COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country during
               the calendar year (all dose types: first, second, booster, etc.).
  Source:      Our World in Data, PAHO
  Missing:     0 or NA for 2019-2020 (vaccines not yet available).

Variable 8: Mortality_Rate
--------------------------
  Label:       Case fatality rate (%)
  Type:        Numeric (decimal)
  Unit:        Percentage (%)
  Description: Case fatality rate (CFR) calculated as:
               CFR (%) = (Deaths / Confirmed_Cases) x 100
               Proportion of confirmed COVID-19 cases that resulted in death.
  Range:       0.0 - 100.0 (theoretical); typical: 0.1 - 10.0
  Missing:     NA or 0 when Confirmed_Cases = 0.

Variable 9: Cases_per_Million
------------------------------
  Label:       Confirmed cases per million population
  Type:        Numeric (decimal)
  Unit:        Cases per 1,000,000 inhabitants
  Description: Annual confirmed cases normalized by population for cross-country
               comparison. Formula: (Confirmed_Cases / Population_millions).
  Missing:     0 or NA when Confirmed_Cases = 0.

Variable 10: Deaths_per_Million
--------------------------------
  Label:       Deaths per million population
  Type:        Numeric (decimal)
  Unit:        Deaths per 1,000,000 inhabitants
  Description: Annual COVID-19 deaths normalized by population.
               Formula: (Deaths / Population_millions).
  Missing:     0 or NA when Deaths = 0.

Variable 11: Population_millions
---------------------------------
  Label:       Country population (in millions)
  Type:        Numeric (decimal)
  Unit:        Millions of inhabitants
  Description: Estimated mid-year population for the given year (in millions).
               Used as denominator for per-capita calculations (Vars 9 and 10).
  Source:      UN World Population Prospects / Our World in Data
  Missing:     None expected.

Variable 12: Source
-------------------
  Label:       Primary data source(s)
  Type:        String (categorical)
  Description: Primary international source(s) from which data were obtained.
  Values:
    'WHO'                          World Health Organization
    'PAHO'                         Pan American Health Organization
    'Our World in Data'            Our World in Data COVID-19 dataset
    'WHO, PAHO'                    Combined from WHO and PAHO
    'WHO, Our World in Data'       Combined from WHO and OWID
    'PAHO, Our World in Data'      Combined from PAHO and OWID
    'WHO, PAHO, Our World in Data' All three sources

==========================
4. DATA SOURCES
==========================

1. World Health Organization (WHO)
   COVID-19 Dashboard and epidemiological reports.
   URL: https://covid19.who.int/

2. Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)
   COVID-19 situation reports and regional epidemiological updates.
   URL: https://www.paho.org/en/topics/covid-19

3. Our World in Data (OWID)
   Mathieu E, Ritchie H, Ortiz-Ospina E, et al. 'A global database of COVID-19
   vaccinations.' Nature Human Behaviour, 2021.
   URL: https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations
   GitHub: https://github.com/owid/covid-19-data

==========================
5. NOTES AND LIMITATIONS
==========================

1. Annual aggregation: All variables represent annual totals, not cumulative
   totals since pandemic onset. Year-over-year comparisons should account for
   this.

2. Baseline year (2019): Pre-pandemic reference year. All case, death, recovery,
   and vaccination counts are 0.

3. Recoveries data: Official recovery reporting was discontinued by many
   countries and by WHO after 2021. Values for 2022-2024 may be estimated,
   modelled, or missing depending on the country.

4. Vaccine doses: Total doses administered (all types combined). Does not
   distinguish between first doses, second doses, and booster doses.

5. Case undercounting: Confirmed cases are subject to testing capacity
   limitations. Countries with lower testing rates may show artificially low
   case counts, especially in 2020.

6. Population estimates: Used for per-capita calculations. Small year-to-year
   differences are expected as estimates are updated annually.

7. Harmonization: Where figures differed between sources (WHO, PAHO, OWID),
   data were harmonized with priority: PAHO (Latin America/Caribbean), WHO
   (global), and OWID (cross-validation and vaccination data).

==========================
6. SUGGESTED CITATION
==========================

de la Serna, Juan Moises, 2026, 'COVID-19 Annual Statistics in Ibero-American
Countries (2019-2024): Cases, Deaths, Recoveries, Mortality Rate and
Vaccinations', https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/6WISDO, Harvard Dataverse,
DRAFT VERSION.

==========================
7. LICENSE
==========================

This dataset is released under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain
Dedication. You may copy, modify, distribute, and use the data, even for
commercial purposes, without asking permission.
Details: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

==========================
END OF CODEBOOK
==========================
